


all you have is your fire (and the place you need to reach)

by OhNoItsMyra



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, BAMF Katara, F/M, gaang might show up, some darker aspects
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhNoItsMyra/pseuds/OhNoItsMyra
Summary: Coal is found in the south and treaties are drawn
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> im reposting this because of some troubleshooting. hopefully I figured it out. title comes from Arsonists Lullaby by Hozier

The Southern Water Tribe seemed nothing more than ice caps and impoverished tribesmen. For a time that is all it was.

The war had hit the once-great tribe fiercely, stealing away men and destroying the icy towers that once stood guard. The tribe lacked many goods to trade and was viewed as virtually a wasteland. That is until a Fire Nation officer stumbled upon a wealth beneath the snowy fields.

Unlike the floating city of the North, the Southern tribe stood firm against the beating of the waves. Soil and stone lay beneath the snow and beneath that coal.

The Earth Kingdom colonies had yielded coal to the great iron ships since the beginning of the hundred-year war. The Firelord’s hunger for domination had led the mine’s production to dwindle and many mines ran dry. Talks of new flying warships led to talks of how to fuel such machines. The vast swathes of coal found below the snow of the South pole was viewed as proof of the spirit world’s endowment of their conquering.

The Fire Nation immediately attempted to excavate the coal but was met with unyielding ice, snow, and water. A brave council member suggested using waterbenders and was initially met with distaste. The idea was given thought once the dig for coal turned fruitless. Waterbenders would allow the coal to be excavated. The southern waterbenders were extinct, but they could be found to the North.

A treaty was to be drawn between the tribes and the Fire Nation. In exchange for an end to the rampage of the Fire Navy, the North offered waterbenders and the South offered a daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara awaits her fate and says goodbye

The comfort of her mother's necklace did little to soothe Katara of her nerves. The weight of the stone between her fingers consistently helped in other scenarios. Though worrying for her father at war or for Sokka’s expeditions to fish, held a different gravity than her current predicament.

As a child, she had nightmares of the Fire Nation coming to steal the last Southern waterbender away from her tribe. The nightmares increased tenfold with the death of her mother. Now older (and still suffering those dreams) she stood waiting patiently to be whisked away.

Patiently may be the wrong word. She was fidgeting and pacing. Her Gran Gran would’ve chastised her for digging a trench with her pacing if she had been with her.

When news came of her betrothal, she screamed at the world. When her father, the village chief, returned she screamed at him. Silently, in her room, she did not scream but instead cried to herself. She resented the Princess in the North who had already wed a man of her tribe and would not have to move to the heart of the Fire Nation. She resented her father for using her as a bargaining chip. Most of all, she resented the Fire Nation.

They had taken her mother and soon they would come for her.

.

.

.

Katara wished she had run away.

It's not the first time she wished that she had. The first was when Sokka had pushed her into a particularly nasty pile of fish guts. The second was when her mother died protecting her. Now the third time was happening as her father finished negotiations and she waited for her departure.

Third time’s the charm, she thought bitterly. She would run if it was merely her affected. Alas, her whole village rested upon her successful betrothal. Not just the survival but with the warriors returning, the village could maybe thrive again.

Katara would not entertain thoughts of running away. She couldn’t.

.

.

.

After her father and the Fire Nation dignitaries had exited the hut, she began her teary goodbyes. Gran Gran hugged her close and murmured into her hair, “Be brave, my waterbender.”

Katara turned to Sokka then. He obviously was fighting back tears.

“Not so tough now are you, Mister Manly,” she added a light punch to his shoulder.

“These are tears of joy Katara, now I don’t have to deal with you eating all of the sea prunes.” She smiled at that, always about food with Sokka.

“I should be the one crying tears of joy, at least now I won’t have to listen to you snore all night.” Katara looked into Sokka’s eyes and felt an ache in her heart. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

“Katara, are you trying to smother me before you leave?” His words were playful, but the crack in his voice gave him away. She loosened her grip and turned to her father.

Her father pulled her into his embrace. Katara could remember how often his hugs would bring her comfort. She felt cocooned safely in her father’s hug and could almost forget she was leaving her home. Almost.

“I’m so proud of you, Katara. If I could take your place, I would.” 

She felt the cold threads of resentment then. She pushed them aside, so as to not tarnish the comfort his hug brought.

She eventually let go as one of the Fire Nation dignitaries cleared his throat. Katara glared at the man. Who was he to decide how long she got to say goodbye? She took satisfaction in the slight stiffen he had under her icy look.

Katara followed the men back to the iron ship. She loved going fishing in the canoe with Sokka. Being surrounded by her element always brought comfort. This ship was larger and almost disconnected from the water she realized as she boarded. Once she got to the deck, it seemed as though the ocean was miles away, but she still felt the push and pull of the ocean and took comfort in that.

She closed her eyes and focused her chi towards the water. It was soothing, similar to her being rocked as a child by her family.

Katara was snatched from her reverie by a Fire Nation man introducing himself.

He dipped into a short bow, “My name is Captain Ukem, may I please escort you to your room, Princess Katara?”

It was funny to think of herself as a princess. She was born to a long line of chiefs to her village, but she slept in a room scant the size to fit one person, much less her, Sokka and Gran Gran. She also participated in most chores about the village, and more often than she liked to admit, mending Sokka’s pants. But it seems by political standards, she fit the title.

Katara nodded back to the man. She wondered if she too should’ve bowed as the captain had. Her manners were far from suitable for a future Fire Nation Princess.

She followed the captain down into the hold and into what was to be her rooms for the trip to the Fire Nation capital.

The room was over thrice the size of the hut she grew up in. It held a large bed covered with blankets, unlike the skins for her home. She felt the fabric and relished in the soft quality. It was slippery and felt almost like water. Katara assumed this was the silk that she heard about in stories.  
There was also a closet full of clothes made from the material, all Fire Nation in style. She supposed she would have to begin wearing the Fire Nation garb instead of her thick fur coat and the rough tunic beneath.

On the opposite side of the room from the bed sat a small sitting area. The table held a decorative tea set and a set of papers.

She looked through the papers and found what appeared to be a schedule of her days on the boat. Katara would spend most of the day with royal tutors learning how to behave properly. Judging by the schedule, they must assume she’s a savage. Proper hygiene is among the more offensive things listed.

The second paper holds more interesting information. It’s not the words that pique her attention but the carefully drawn portrait of her betrothed.

If not for the scar marring his face Prince Zuko would’ve been the spitting image of the Firelord. Disgust curled in Katara’s stomach at the thought that she would have to lie next to and with someone who looked so much like the man who had warred with the world her whole life. It was distasteful she was marrying a prince of the nation that killed her mother, and looking at the picture seemed to make everything much more real for Katara.  
She found a brief formal letter addressed to her from the Fire Nation council. It vaguely alluded to the banishment of the Prince and then focused on the basics of the royal family. Katara had heard years ago when the Prince was banished. It was barely a passing thought for her at the time. She wondered what young Katara would say of her fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are super nice, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prince of angst is here

Zuko had beamed to Uncle when the letter came. His father wanted him back, after 5 years of banishment. His uncle warned him that his father just wanted him to be used for the treaty, but Zuko wouldn’t mind marrying some savage from the South Pole if he got to come home again.

He ran his hand through the short locks of hair. Since his banishment was over, he was able to cut his Phoenix Plume. He had worn it both out of necessity and honor. The tender flesh of his scar was irritated by the hair while healing. He also didn’t deserve to wear a top-knot as a banished prince. Zuko hoped the hair would be long enough to wear up by the time he docked in the Fire Nation. Uncle insisted that tea would help the hair grow faster, but he was unsure that was scientific.

They had been searching for the Avatar in the Eastern Sea when the firehawk came with the message to return home. He would’ve gone straight home, but Uncle had insisted they take the “scenic” route. Currently, they were docked, so Uncle could bathe in some famous hot springs. 

Speaking of the man, he should be back soon. Uncle had probably been distracted by a merchant or a plant. 

Zuko left the ship and took off down the path his Uncle went. 

“Uncle? Uncle, where are you? We need to leave.” He shouted as he plowed through the brush.

“Over here,” his uncle called out.

“We need to move on. We’re expected back at the Fire Nation soon.”

“Prince Zuko, you look tired. Why don’t you join me in this relaxing hot springs? You can soak away your troubles.” His uncle gestured at the cluster of pools.

“Father expects us back soon,” he smiled a little at that. It was still hard to believe he was going to be welcomed home.

Uncle’s eyes softened at that, he couldn’t tell if it was shared happiness or pity. “Yes. Your new fiance too.”  
He hadn’t given much thought to his upcoming nuptials. When he was younger he imagined getting married to Mai. She was the closest thing he had for a friend. In truth, Mai was more of Azula’s friend than his.

He had heard a year or so ago, she had married some high ranking officer. Zuko wasn’t sure how to feel about such things. He was less sure of how to feel about the woman he was to marry.

He knew she was 16 and the daughter of Chief Hakoda, beyond that little. The Southern Watertribe was hardly spoken about. It was a backwater place from what he knew. They lived in tents and huts made of snow, and lived simple lives. He wondered if his wife could even read. The only value the land had was the coal beneath the snow.

“Come on. We need to leave.”

“The water’s perfect though. I heated it myself,” Uncle punctuated the sentence with steaming the water.

Zuko fanned the steam away, “We need to leave. Get out of the water.”

“Very well,” he stood from the water fully naked, Zuko immediately shielded his eyes from his uncle’s naked glory.

“On second thought, take you time getting out. I’ll meet you on the ship.”

Zuko then turned quickly, so as not to see his Uncle naked again. 

.  
.  
.

“I don’t want you hurt if this reunion doesn’t go the way you hope, nephew.” 

“Father wants me back. That’s all that matters.” Uncle reached a hand out to place on Zuko’s shoulder. He shrugged the touch away.

“He may be asking you to return, but I have never known my brother to be so forgiving,” Uncle’s brow furrowed.

“Father cares about me. He wants me back.” Zuko hoped his decisive tone would convince himself of the words he spoke.

“I care about you,” Uncle looked pensive. “I fear if he wants you back, it is only for the gain your marriage will bring.”

“You don’t know how father feels about me. I think he’s realized that he misses me after five years. I’m eighteen, he must think I have proven myself by sticking it out.”

He hoped all he said was true. As he aged in banishment, he had lost more and more hope of ever returning. No where in the world held signs of the Avatar. Zuko had wondered if his father had sent him on an impossible mission.

This conversation wasn’t new. Uncle had continually tried to broach the subject, seemingly trying to prepare him for anyway his father might react. But now, standing on the deck of his ship, with the Caldera in sight, he felt more anxiety.

What if his Uncle was right? It was a chance that Father only wanted him so he could marry the watertribe girl and gain his armies generations of coal. But maybe in time he could show his father that he was honorable.

He needed to. 

.  
.  
.

He never thought he would welcome the heat of the throne room as much as he did.

“You may rise Prince Zuko.” He had been kneeling on the floor in a deep bow in front of his father. He sat up slowly, feeling the flop of his top-knot. His hair had grown long enough for it to be pulled up in the hairstyle. He had to use some pomade to smooth the hair not yet long enough for the knot, but his hair would grow long enough to not need the gel soon.

He was proud his hair had grown back quick enough. The plume he had to wear through his banishment was a symbol of his shame. If his hair wasn’t long enough for the customary top-knot, he would’ve had direct evidence of his dishonor. He didn’t need his father to have anymore reminders beyond the scar marring his face.

“Father, I’m so glad you asked me back. I know I didn’t bring back the Avatar, but I will make up for that. I will prove my honor to you again and again until-” His father brushed away his words with a wave. Zuko felt cold under his father’s yellow stare.

“Your fiancee should be arriving soon. Prepare yourself. You’re dismissed.”

Zuko stood and turned to leave. As he walked out, he tried to ignore the icy sting of rejection. He also tried to fight the tear that escaped his stony composure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm kinda trash at dialogue, but i'm getting better i hope. i used the hot spring scene from the show for the iroh and zuko conversation. this chapter isn't super good. im sorry for that. but i hope you enjoyed anyways!
> 
> if anyone is up for betaing thatd be nice, also if anyone would want to just help bounce ideas back and forth for this story, that would be delightful.
> 
> anyways, thank you for reading!!! comments and kudos fuel me


End file.
